Keani Rawlins-Fernandez is qualified and has the aptitude to serve on the County Council. Many of the old-school politicians had little formal training and had to learn the job on the job. Keani Rawlins-Fernandez worked in the Legislature while earning a dual major law degree learning the ...

The three main reasons that I voted for Ron Curtis instead of supporting Sen. Mazie Hirono’s re-election are:
1. Her failure to respond to constituent contact; 2. Her support of Hillary Clinton rather than the landslide winner of the 2016 Hawaii State Democratic Primary, despite the clear ...

Isn’t it time we changed our politics? Consider Riki Hokama, now finishing his second decade on the Maui County Council. His father was on the council for over 30; evidently, Riki wants to continue that family tradition.
He isn’t elected year after year because he works for all of us, ...

Like many recent letter writers, I’m disappointed with Sen. Mazie Hirono’s actions during the judicial confirmation hearings. Fortunately, there’s something we can do to send Sen. Hirono a message: Vote for Ron Curtis for U.S. Senate! Check out Ron’s website: roncurtis808.com.
Dan ...

Mike Victorino for mayor
As we expressed before the primary, former County Council member Michael Victorino is our preference to succeed Alan Arakawa as mayor of Maui County.
We believe there is a reason Victorino has strong support from both business and labor — he has a strong commitment ...

Keani Rawlins-Fernandez, when elected to the County Council, will fulfill the council’s needs by being the only member with an MBA and a law degree. With these degrees, and student loans that come with them, Keani could have chosen a high-paying job, but instead she chose to return home to ...

Sen. Mazie Hirono said, “I just want to say to the men of this country: Just shut up and step up. Do the right thing for a change.”
Saying “shut up” is the way a bully behaves. Grouping all men together shows bias and prejudice.
As to standing up for women, Sen. Hirono rarely does. ...

There appears to be an orchestrated campaign to trash Sen. Mazie Hirono, who has done us proud. Newly visible on the national scene, Mazie has stood up for women, finding the accusations against Brett Kavanaugh credible. Is opposition to her an indication of men disrespecting women who speak ...

There are two dramatically different candidates for mayor. Mike Victorino has a long history of business, management and government positions of responsibility. His volunteer activities for the community are legendary, as well as those of his entire family. He is experienced and ...

Important questions. Who is the biggest spender in this election? Where are they from? Who are they supporting? Why?
The single biggest spender in the Maui County election this year is an Oahu Super Pac “One Ohana,” funded by the Ka‘anapali Ocean Resort Timeshare Owners Association. ...

I am the chairman of the Sustainable Action Fund super PAC which will spend less than $50,000 on the general election. SAFE officers live on Maui as do all donors. Furthermore, the donors have met most of the candidates, so they know who they are voting for and why.
Compare this to the One ...

Many thanks to Sen. Mazie Hirono during my recent travel to D.C. to various senators’ and representatives’ offices. Not only was Sen. Hirono accessible and extremely helpful, her office staff followed up with calls for three days in efforts to make my visit informative and successful. It ...

Finally! The big day is here at last!
You might think that someone who often works in costume wouldn’t treat Halloween as a big deal, but I do. From as far back as I can remember, I loved dressing up and playing make-believe. An only child, I spent many hours amusing myself. I didn’t have ...

On Oct. 18, the Hawaii Supreme Court held oral argument on a petition by the four counties to invalidate the “Con-Am,” namely the constitutional amendment ballot measure that would allow the state to slap a
“surcharge,” essentially an additional property tax, on “investment” real ...

Halloween is one of our favorite holidays.
When the children were little, we could reduce them to tears of embarrassment by greeting their trick-or-treating friends wearing a mask created by simply cutting two eye holes in a sock.
“The Lone Stranger” made the children cringe. Made the ...

All month varying opinions about Brett Kavanaugh’s appointment have been shared. Whatever one may think of Sen. Mazie Hirono’s comments, one of Kavanaugh’s unnerving first votes was to remove the rights of Native Americans on reservations to vote if they lack a street address, thus ...

There are numerous topics our state Legislature needs to consider. An important issue is to allow voters in Hawaii to have the right to both citizen initiative and referendum. Hawaii does not currently allow either.
As to voting, preferential/ranked choice/instant runoff voting would permit ...

Poke in the desert?
I know author Barbara Kingsolver, who made a memorable Maui Writers Conference visit in the ’90s, titled one of her books “High Tide in Tucson.” But it still sounds like a high-risk culinary concept — fresh seafood so far from the sea. Aging is a good thing for ...

We would like to clarify our role in the complaint filed by Mayor Alan Arakawa over a campaign ad that appeared in the Maui Fair tabloid in The Maui News on Sept. 30. The ad for incumbent candidate Alika Atay featured his County Council address and not his campaign address; County Charter ...

Progressive candidates should be approachable, transparent, open and receptive. Elle Cochran is arrogant, self-serving, deceptive and manipulative. Mike Victorino is willing to listen and eager to engage. He can work together with everyone.
Elle is more comfortable being in control. ...